Carol's Chickens

Yesterday there were a few sweet moments of togetherness in the flock. In the morning it involved egg laying and in the afternoon it involved dust bathing.

We had our first, five egg day, of the year. This time three bigger girls and two little girls. There was a lot of commotion as several girls wanted to lay at the same time and in the same nest box. Eventually Speckles, Emerald and Barley got their eggs laid and things calmed down a bit.

Freckles and Rusty then settled in the nest box together.

Freckles and Rusty share a nest box

They look so sweet together

Shortly after this photo Freckles laid her egg and a little later Rusty laid her egg.

During the course of the day most of the girls had a dust bath. It was really good to see the three amigos dust bathing together before I went out on my rounds. Later Peaches, Barley and Speckles were dust bathing and then Freckles followed by Rusty once she had laid her egg.

A little later Emerald was dust bathing with Apricot joining in and pecking and scratching very close to her. This was heartwarming to see.

Emerald and Apricot dust bath together

Emerald and Apricot

Apricot and Emerald

They were very happy in very close proximity to each other. This was so lovely to see. I think we finally have got them mixing happily.

In February my husband gave the huge rambling rose on our fence a really good prune. This rose was already in the garden, and well established, when we moved in ten years ago. It does provide a good screen between us and the neighbours but it is very fast growing and lethal when pruning.

Behind it the fence panels and posts have rotted away. My husband gave it the hardest prune we have ever given it so that we could see what was going on with the fence. The rose had blown over into the neighbours garden in the winter and we had to go round and push it back again. My husband attached some poles to the fence to tie the rose to, to keep it from blowing over again.

The rose has a hard prune

The rose was up to the top of the remaining pole and it’s pruning has left the garden very open and overlooked. The fence is rather low and is in worse condition than it looks in the photo.

The poles and broken trellis are removed

A few months later

The rose is growing back

It is actually our neighbours fence but they have a young child and are now paying for child care so Mum can go back to work and money is tight. We have talked to them about the fence and have explained that we are happy to pay to have it replaced as it would benefit us both and as we have a wall on the other side of our garden we haven’t had to pay for any maintenance of our boundaries (except for the fence at the back behind the chicken shed). They reluctantly agreed.

We have been waiting for the last two months for our usual guy, who did our chicken run and back fence, to fit us in, but he is snowed under with work. We had a brainwave and asked our other neighbour, all round handy man, if he would be able to do the job. He quoted us a price and we agreed for him to do the work.

Our plan was to make the fence a bit higher than before by putting gravel boards in first and then the fence on top. Then we would tie the rose to our side of the fence making it easier to manage and easier to keep on our side.

On Monday morning work began. The old posts were taken out and the old panels removed. It was odd seeing it so open.

The old fence panels are removed

The holes were dug out for the new posts. Today the new fence panels are up.

The new fence panels are up

The rose is tied back to the fence once more

We are really pleased with this. We now have more privacy from the neighbours and we will be able to manage the rose and to keep it on our side. Knowing how vigorous this rose is we feel sure it will soon cover the fence once more. A job well done and an improvement for us and the neighbours.

At the weekend we got our veg plot started. My husband dug it over and then dug in the contents of our compost bin.

We had had potatoes chitting for a while and he planted a row of earlies. They are beside the path, from the labelled stick, down to the step. He then planted broad beans at the far end on the right and runner beans at the near end on the left.

Veg plot

It’s a bit empty at the moment but it’s too early to plant anything else yet. We have only planted a few runner beans as we intend to plant some dwarf beans later. We will also have tomatoes and courgettes and we have some fir apple potatoes chitting but they need to be planted later. We may add a chilli plant as that did well last year and we will decide what else to plant as we go along.

We have gone for different types of potato this year as last year’s were not very successful. We are hoping to have better luck this year but you never know how the year will turn out. It is good to have made a start though and makes us feel like summer is on it’s way.

Yesterday was the first day this year that all four bigger girls laid on the same day. It’s the fourth, four egg, day but each time before it’s been three bigger girls and one little girl. Today both little girls laid. Shame they didn’t lay yesterday and give me a record, six egg, day. But all the laying girls in two days is pretty good going. I am loving all the eggs.

All four bigger girls laid yesterday and Rusty and Freckles laid today

From left to right they are Emerald’s, Speckles, Rusty’s, Freckles, Peaches and Barley’s eggs

Speckles still lays the biggest egg. Peaches and Barley’s eggs are the whitest in colour.

Rusty’s egg is on the left and Freckles tiny egg is on the right

Rusty’s eggs have remained bigger than Freckles eggs. Freckles eggs are very round. It has been a week since Freckles last egg so it’s good to see her laying again and without a problem this time. I don’t know what caused her little blip.

Her last tiny egg that she laid a week ago had a good, hard, shell (we have eaten it now) so I don’t know what the problem was. However she had no problem today so hopefully all is fine with her.

I never tire of all these lovely eggs and plan to have scrambled egg for dinner one night this week. Thank you girls.

It has been a real problem getting the three amigos brave enough to get to the food and water. I had been separating them three times a day to give them a chance at food and water in peace.

A few days ago I decided that I would have to put in another feeding station out in the run. I have never had to do this before but these three girls are the most timid we have ever had.

I decided to put a small dish of mash and a small dish of water, on the wooden block, that holds the gate open to the furthest part of the run. I use a block to wedge the gate open rather than a brick so that if the girls dig round it and it slides, it is light and it wont hurt their feet.

This is also an ideal spot to put food where it won’t get soil scratched into it and being behind the top part of the run it offers a bit of screen from the other girls. The three amigos can go to this spot whenever the rest of the flock are in the top part of the run.

Apricot is the first to find the new feeding station

Dandelion and Cinnamon soon find it too

This is now working well

The three amigos soon got used to going to this feeding station whenever the other girls were occupied or in the top part of the run. With this new routine they seem to have grown in confidence and have finally started to mix with the other girls. There were moments yesterday when the entire flock were hanging out in the sun together. Rusty and Freckles have also started perching on the ladder with the three amigos.

We finally feel that we have turned a corner and the flock is becoming united again. I think they will gradually continue to grow in confidence.

A few days ago I was surprised to find an egg in the shelter. I deduced that it was Speckles egg as it was huge and she lays the biggest eggs plus she hadn’t laid for a few days so was due an egg. Yesterday I saw her settle in the shelter and flick stray shavings on to her back and I realised that I had been correct in my assumption that it was Speckles egg.

I have no idea why she has suddenly decided this is a good place to lay but that’s fine. It makes a big nest box and when we eventually have more girls laying it won’t harm to have extra egg laying places.

Speckles finds a new place to lay her egg

Of course there is always an audience, in this case Peaches and Freckles.

Yesterday Rusty laid her second egg, three days after her first one. Freckles hasn’t laid another egg since her extra small one, six days ago.

Rusty’s second egg

Rusty’s first egg is on the left followed by her second egg. Freckles last two eggs are on the right. Rusty’s second egg is the same large size and pale colour as her first egg but with no blood on it this time. If I have eggs to compare it will be easy to tell Rusty’s and Freckles eggs apart.

This was our third, four egg, day. As well as Rusty’s egg we had eggs from Speckles, Peaches and Emerald. We are now getting enough eggs for Saturday and Sunday breakfast plus one breakfast during the week and one evening meal during the week. We have two eggs each for breakfast and this week had an omelette for dinner using six eggs.

It is so lovely being able to eat as many eggs as we like without having to buy any and at last the girls are beginning to mix. All is good in the chicken run.

The garden is bursting with spring colour at the moment. The clematis on the fence outside our kitchen window flowers first but is followed by the clematis on the rose arch. The one on the fence is a pink/mauve but the one on the rose arch is a blue/mauve.

Clematis outside our kitchen window

Clematis on the rose arch

I think the blue one is even prettier

These bell shaped clematis are the only ones that do well in this garden.

These tulips are bright when closed

But are absolutely vibrant when open

These tulips have been here since we moved in ten years ago and flower every year but have never made more. The group of four stays just the same every year which sort of amuses me.

Primulas on the other hand, have spread all over the garden and pulmonarias spread like weeds. Even the hellebores are spreading. I love seeing the changes in the garden through the seasons and also through the years.

This integration has been the most difficult one for a long time. One thing that has gone like clockwork though is the bedtime routine. I was dreading it and yet it went much easier than with the previous little girls.

This is because all the groups have their own perch. I knew that there would be no way that Rusty and Freckles would let the three amigos share their perch so we put up two new perches in the opposite corner to theirs.

It only took two nights of putting the three girls on their perch for them to get the hang of it. Now there is no fuss at bedtime. Watching them last night we could see the order that they go in.

Emerald is always in first after the bedtime corn. It is often up to an hour later before the rest of the girls go in. All the bigger girls go in and settle on the, higher perch, at the back of the shed. Rusty and Freckles go in next and settle on their perch on the left of the shed. The three amigos go in last and go straight to their perch in the right hand corner above the pop hole.

We have also just made two amendments to the perches. We have taken out the back rail on Freckles and Rusty’s perch as we put it in for passing room with more than two girls. With only two girls here it is no longer needed. A single rail is better as it further from the side wall giving the two girls more space.

Freckles and Rusty on their perch

Apricot, Cinnamon and Dandelion on their perch

We also took out the high, bigger perch, that was above these two smaller perches. Apricot had been going up to the higher one and I didn’t like her having such a big drop down in the morning. There is no need for a higher one as we put it in when we had more bigger girls than now. There is plenty of space on the back perch for the bigger girls.

This arrangement of perches keeps each set of girls well away from each other which means none of the head pecking that used to go on at bedtime. Bedtime is now the one time that the flock are in harmony. I am so happy with this part of their routine.

I have known for a while that Rusty was ready to start laying. She has been squatting when I hold my hand over her and has been more vocal.

Yesterday afternoon she was very vocal and then settled in the nest box.

Rusty in the nest box

She laid her first egg which is huge compared to Freckles eggs. No wonder it had a few streaks of blood on it. It is also much paler than Freckles eggs which are a beige colour.

Rusty’s egg is on the right of Freckles last two eggs

Rusty’s egg in the middle of Freckles eggs

Well done Rusty, what a clever girl!

Yesterday morning when I was in the run doing the morning chores I decided to separate the three amigos (after five weeks I can’t continue to call them new girls) to the patio area. I thought they could start their day with a top up of food and water, while I am busy, before they retreat to the ladders.

We seem to have reached a strange state of being integrated but yet not quite integrated. They sleep together with no problem, they share the run together with no problem and yet they are not brave enough to go to the patio for food and water.

I had just got the two groups in their separate parts of the run when something started kicking off. To my surprise Emerald and Peaches were fighting. They were really going at it with their ruffs raised and hanging on to each other. It was a real commotion and I tried spraying them with water but they wouldn’t stop. No photos as it was too stressful.

Eventually Peaches ended up standing over Emerald who was forced down in the submissive position. At this point Barley wandered over and stared at the pair of them as if wondering what on earth they were up to.

It seems that Peaches had won this round. I think that as Emerald is getting old and Peaches is second in the pecking order she is making a bid to move up into top position.

We have had Emerald for five years and she was an adult girl when we got her so she could be six to seven years old now. When we got Peaches and Barley they were only four months old so they naturally went in at the bottom. Emerald rose to the top through age and longevity but she has always been a gentle character.

We got Peaches and Barley two weeks after Emerald and Toffee. Emerald now goes to bed first which is probably a sign of her age. As soon as I have given out the bedtime corn she makes her way to the chicken shed, long before the other girls go in. It is natural as a top hen gets older that a younger one may try to move up the ladder. It is hard to see them scrapping though when they have lived side by side in harmony for so many years.

It will be interesting to see if this changes their relationship. Since their battle, yesterday morning, I haven’t seen any other interaction between them. The pecking order is very important matter among any flock.

Yesterday I separated the three girls before lunch. They went straight to the water and had a huge drinking session then went to the pellets. I worry about them not getting water so I decided to put water bottles above each of the ladders. At least this will mean they can get to water at any time and then to food when I supervise.

The three girls sprint to the water

All three have a good drink

Next the three girls head to the pellets

Apricot has a peck at the apple

I show Dandelion and Cinnamon one of the water bottles

I show Apricot the other water bottle

I tried to show them how to get the water but they didn’t get it.

Rusty shows them how it’s done

Rusty hadn’t forgotten the water bottle though.

After Rusty had shown them how it was done I put Apricot by the bottle and tapped the nozzle. Apricot had some water. She is always the first of the three to cotton on to anything new. I am sure the other two will soon get the hang of it. This is one problem solved for now.

Freckles usually lays two days out of three. A couple of days ago I noticed that she wasn’t herself. She didn’t run to the seeds in the morning and spent a lot of the day perched in the corner of the run. She hadn’t laid for a couple of days and I recognised this behaviour. I knew she was having an egg laying problem and possibly had a soft shelled egg coming. I managed to persuade her to eat a little mash.

Yesterday morning she went to the nest box and stayed in there most of the day.

Poor Freckles

She is trying so hard to get her egg laid

I was wishing that I could help her

I hated seeing her like this and felt so helpless. She was making little whimpering noises and it was obvious that she was really struggling to get her egg out. She was raising her tail with the effort. I felt so worried for her.

At half past three Freckles abandoned the nest box with no egg laid. She went to sit in the sun then had some food and water.

I know from past experience (Amber) that it sometimes takes two days to get a soft shelled egg laid.

While all this had been going on Rusty had been very vocal and had been going in and out of the nest box on and off all day but I didn’t manage to get a photo of her in there.

At half past seven we went out to check on the girls. They were all in the shed, on their perches, except Freckles. I had forgotten to close the nest boxes and Freckles was back in the nest box again. I lifted her out and under her was a tiny egg. It was so small that it almost fell through the hole of the egg stand when I took it indoors.

I put Freckles on her perch and twice she jumped down and went back in to the nest box. I then put her on her perch and closed the pop hole. When it was a bit darker I opened it again and Freckles was still on her perch.

Now we had a puzzle. Was this tiny egg Rusty’s first egg? It seemed odd that after struggling all day to lay that Freckles would then lay a hard shelled and tiny egg and still keep returning to the nest box. It is possible that Rusty went in and laid it while I was indoors but it is unusual for a first egg to be laid quickly. They usually take ages and lots of practice to get the first egg laid.

I went out first thing this morning and Freckles was already in the nest box with her tail raised again.

Freckles is back in the nest box with Rusty watching on

Peaches egg is on the left, Freckles previous egg in the middle and the mystery egg is on the right

By the time my husband got back at midday today Freckles was back out in the run and having a dust bath. She hasn’t returned to the nest box and looks back to normal, having another dust bath late in the afternoon. At five o’clock she is still out in the run so my conclusion is that she finally laid her egg last night but didn’t realise she had laid it. This often happens when they take a long time to lay.

I am just glad to have her back to normal again. There is never a dull moment with these girls.